Dolly Parton's Joyful non-acting

A comedy musical written and directed by Todd Graff, Joyful Noise is set in the small town of Pacashau, Georgia, where the people of the community are counting on the church choir to lift their spirits by winning an upcoming National Competition. The choir has always known how to sing in harmony, but the discord between its two leaders now threatens to tear them apart.

The country singer portrays G.G. Sparrow, the widow of a former choir director, in the movie and says there were so many similarities between herself and the character, she didn't have to stretch herself too much.

She said: "That character was so me that I didn't really feel like I was acting. But, of course, I had to go deep inside and I had a great director [Todd Graff]. If I was trying too hard to do it my way, he was wonderful to say, 'Well, you need to have a little more edge.' But he liked me doing my own thing, being my own self as much as I could, so I didn't feel like I was really acting that much. Although there were some wonderful moments in this, a little deeper than I hate going, so I'm just hoping it turned out good."

The '9 to 5' hitmaker also admitted there are "limits" to the type of movies she is willing to appear in as she doesn't want to alienate her fanbase or tarnish her image.

She added in an interview with website TheBoot.com: "I would have my limits; I wouldn't do something that was just totally offensive to my fan base. I own a family theme park and I have the Imagination Library books for children's programs, so I wouldn't want to do something that is just god-awful raunchy!

"But as an actress, I would be able to do something certainly more edgy than this. This is wonderful. This plays right to my audience, right to my fan base and right to my own beliefs. But no, I don't limit myself. I'm a singer, a writer and an actress - when I find something that I feel good enough about doing."